ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused opposition parties of stoking xenophobia and racism on Monday, a day after residents in a neighborhood in central Turkey set Syrian-owned shops on fire.
The rioting erupted in the Melikgazi region of central Kayseri province late Sunday following reports that a Syrian refugee there had allegedly sexually harassed a 7-year-old Syrian girl. Outraged residents overturned some cars and set shops ablaze, calling on Syrians to leave.
At least 67 people suspected of involvement in the violence were detained, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on the social media platform X.
In a televised address on Monday, Erdogan accused opposition parties, which have advocated for the repatriation of refugees, of inciting violence.
“Nothing can be achieved by fueling xenophobia and hatred of refugees in society,” Erdogan said. “One of the reasons for the tragic event that was caused by a small group in Kayseri yesterday is the poisonous discourse of the opposition.”
When Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, Turkey received Syrian refugees with compassion, becoming the country to host the largest refugee population globally. As the population grew and Turkey encountered escalating economic difficulties, it has seen a rise in anti-migrant sentiment. Opposition parties are calling for the repatriation of the Syrians.
Officials said the alleged abuser was arrested while the girl, her siblings and mother were placed under state protection where they would receive psychological support.
In 2021, similar anti-Syrian riots broke out in an Ankara neighborhood after a Turkish teenager was stabbed to death in a fight with a group of young Syrians. Hundreds of people chanting anti-immigrant slogans took to the streets, vandalized Syrian-run shops and hurled rocks at refugees’ homes.
Turkey is home to 3.6 million refugees, according to government figures though some argue the real population may be significantly larger.
FILE - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 22, 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused opposition parties of stoking xenophobia and racism on Monday, July 1, 2024 a day after residents in a neighborhood in central Turkey set Syrian-owned shops on fire. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye /Pool Photo via AP, File)
HATHRAS, India (AP) — Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving at least 121 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued.
Five of those died on Wednesday morning, local official Manish Chaudhry said, and 28 people were still being treated in a hospital.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common at Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.
Some quarter of a million people turned up for the event Tuesday that was permitted to accommodate only 80,000. It’s not clear how many made it inside the giant tent set up in a muddy field in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state.
It was also not clear what sparked the panic. But the state's chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, told reporters that a crowd rushed toward the preacher to touch him as he was descending from the stage, and volunteers struggled to intervene.
An initial report from the police suggested that thousands of people then thronged the exits, and many slipped on the muddy ground, causing them to fall and be crushed in the crowd. Most of the dead were women.
The chaos appeared to continue outside the tent also as followers again ran toward the preacher, a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba, as he left in a vehicle. His security personnel pushed the crowd back, causing more people to fall, according to officials.
Authorities are investigating and searching for the preacher as well as other organizers, whose whereabouts are not known.
Adityanath said he ordered an inquiry by a retired judge into Tuesday's deaths.
Police registered a case of culpable homicide against two organizers, but excluded the preacher. Culpable homicide carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment in India.
Binod Sokhna, who lost his mother, daughter and wife, wept as he walked out of a morgue on Wednesday.
“My son called me and said, ‘Papa, mother is no more. Come here immediately.' My wife is no more,” he said, crying.
The preacher's Sri Jagat Guru Baba organization had spent more than two weeks preparing for the event.
Followers of the guru from across the state — which is India's most populous with over 200 million people — traveled to the village, with rows of parked vehicles stretching 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles).
State official Ashish Kumar said there were insufficient exits in the vast tent. It’s not clear how many there were.
Experts said the event violated safety norms. “The function was held in a makeshift tent without ensuring multiple exit routes,” said Sanjay Srivastava, a disaster management expert.
On Tuesday, hundreds of relatives had gathered at local hospitals, wailing in distress at the sight of the dead, placed on stretchers and covered in white sheets on the grounds outside. Buses and trucks also carried dozens of victims to morgues.
Sonu Kumar was one of many local residents who helped lift and move dead bodies after the disaster. He criticized the preacher: “He sat in his car and left. And his devotees here fell one upon another.”
“The screams were so heart-wrenching. We have never seen anything like this before in our village,” Kumar added.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled one another amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 people died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
Banerjee reported from Lucknow, India. Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi contributed from New Delhi.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in saffron robes, gestures to a woman who was injured in a stampede as she receives treatment at Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police officers control a crowd that gathered at the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Villagers run past the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Villagers watch officials visit the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Villagers crowd at the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits the place where a fatal stampede took place in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visit the place where a fatal stampede took place in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Jugnu, 35, looks at photographs of his mother Munni Devi, 60, victim of a stampede, in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Jugnu, 35, mourns the death of his mother Munni Devi, 60, victim of a stampede, in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Relatives and volunteers carry the bodies on stretchers at the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)
Relatives mourn next to the bodies of their relatives outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo)
Women mourn next to the body of a relative outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores.(AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)
A woman watches members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Rain puddles are seen at the scene of a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
People injured in a stampede receive treatment at Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man weeps while hugging the father-in-law of his 37-year-old sister Ruby, victim of a stampede, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man mourns by the body of his 37-year-old sister Ruby, victim of a stampede, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Family members of 37-year-old Ruby, victim of a stampede, mourn after receiving her body from a mortuary as they prepare to leave for their hometown, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
